FAÇADE

The Irish property bubble burst in 2008, precipitating the ongoing economic crisis in the country. As credit dried up and developers went into receivership, developments were abandoned at various stages of completion. Empty housing estates, skeletal buildings and zoned wastelands now mar the landscape.

Many sites on the periphery of towns and cities remain encircled by hoardings, some covered in hyperreal imagery and grandiose slogans which belie the reality. These fences obstruct our view and act like screens, projecting a fictional past over the present actuality.

They have become part of the topography of the country, relics of an illusionary age.

About

Basil Al-Rawi is a photo-artist and cinematographer based in Dublin, Ireland.